Question: People say what comes around goes around, and others add "and I would like to be there to see it". Is the idea of 'payback' actually a core belief of any religion, especially Judaism, and is that attitude of wishing to witness the repercussions of their acts on another person coming home to roost an act of a wholesome and ethical individual?

The question touches on a number of related issues. Jewish tradition clearly would teach that one should not have an attitude of wishing to witness the punishment of others. The Book of Proverbs (24:17) urges, “If your enemy falls, do not exult; if he trips, let your heart not rejoice.” The Torah, at the beginning of the verse that teaches, “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18), commands, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge.” The rabbis of the Talmud offer a broad interpretation:

It has been taught: What is revenge and what is bearing a grudge? If one said to his fellow: ‘Lend me your sickle’, and he replied ‘No’, and tomorrow the second comes [to the first] and says: ‘Lend me your axe’! and he replies: ‘I will not lend it to you, just as you would not lend me your sickle’ — that is revenge. And what is bearing a grudge? If one says to his fellow: ‘Lend me your axe’, he replies ‘No’, and on the morrow the second asks: ‘Lend me your garment’, and he answers: ‘Here it is. I am not like you who would not lend me [what I asked for]’ — that is bearing a grudge. [Yoma 23a, Soncino translation]

The extent to which “what goes around comes around” in our world is less clear. Many traditional sources urge people to expect this as they decide how to act. A prime example is Deuteronomy 11:13-21, the second paragraph of the Shema. which tells the Israelite community that if they follow God’s mitzvot (commandments), they will receive amble rainfall and enjoy agricultural comfort, but if they turn away to serve other gods then they will suffer. In the Bible, reward and punishment generally is understood as applying to the community as a whole, but many sources in Jewish tradition teach that reward and punishment happen with each individual (though not necessarily in this world). Maimonides formulates as the eleventh principle of faith that God “rewards him who obeys the commands of the Torah, and punishes him who transgresses its prohibitions.” (in Louis Jacobs, Principles of the Jewish Faith, 350). Jewish tradition understands that happiness tends to correlate with generous and virtuous living. The observations of many individuals, and some psychological studies, seem to support this view. But this correlation is not exact. Sometimes bad things do happen to good people, as evidenced by the observations of many people and by many sources in the Jewish tradition, notably the Book of Job.

Question: As the son of a Pole who lost touch with his Jewish roots and married a non-Jewish woman, I went through the conversion process, including Brit Milah, Mikvah, and Beit Din, to reclaim that heritage. Why, as a person who prays daily, with regard to Aliyah, etc. am I considered less than a Jew in the eyes of those I view as family?

Thank you for your question. I am sorry for what you have gone through. You certainly are Jewish in my view, and according to my understanding of halakhah (Jewish law).

Part of what may be going on is that Jews are both members of a religion, and of a people or nation. You have joined Jews as a religion. I believe that you also have joined the people, but some Jews may not realize that. In my experience, Jews who do not take their religion seriously, who do not pray daily, are often those who understand their being Jewish as simply ethnic, and who do not recognize a Jew such as yourself as fully Jewish. This debate goes back to the Bible: Ezra did not allow Jewish men to continue to live with wives not born Jews, and did not seem to accept conversion as making someone really Jewish. Ruth presents the model Jew by choice who cast her lot with her mother-in-law and the Jewish people.

There also is political debate. In Israel, the Orthodox rabbinate represents the established religion, and the official rabbis tend to reject any non-Orthodox rabbis or conversions not authorized by Orthodox rabbis whom they recognize.

More information may be found in theTalmud, Yebamot 471-b, and a letter written by Rabbi Moses Maimonides to Obadiah the Proselyte (may be found at http://www.lookstein.org/online_journal.php?id=257).

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